Steve Dodson, candidate for Hiawatha City Council at-large

Steve Dodson, Robert Archibald and Jeffrey Cater are running for the two at-large Hiawatha council seats. Marcia Correll had to withdraw from the race. The Gazette has not yet received responses from Cater. ► Get to know the other candidates

Name: Steve Dodson

Office sought: Hiawatha City Council at-large (incumbent)

Age: 69 (born Dec. 13, 1951)

Occupation: Retired from Mercy Medical Center

Email: sdsafari2@outlook.com

Have you held office before? Yes, currently in my fourth year of first term on city council for Hiawatha.

Personal bio: Married to Deb Dodson and we have five children and 10 grandchildren. We have lived in Hiawatha for over 21 years and raised two daughters here. We love spending time with family, friends and especially the grandchildren. We love to travel when we can and enjoy the great outdoors. I attended Oklahoma State University and Emory University in Atlanta. I am a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserves (Captain). Having worked in the oil and gas industry testing wells, I know hard work. I have also served as a police officer in Norman, Oklahoma and been in sales. Both jobs helped me develop into a good listener and have great people skills. Recently retired from working in the interventional radiology/cath lab and coding from Mercy Medical Center after 20 years in June 2020. I served 8 years on the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation board of directors. I am currently on the Linn County Crime Stoppers Board. I am also an active fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus.

Why are you running for city council?

To continue representing the citizens of Hiawatha and be accessible to them. To make leadership and policy decisions for the greater good of the city and not just a select few. Hiawatha has a lot of progress accomplished but we have so much more to do for our citizens. I want to be able to continue this journey pushing for progress that our council has started. We have a great city staff including the city manager, mayor and other council members, as well as all levels of staff. Serving on the investment committee for the city we have been able to lower our city tax levy three of the last four years without reducing any city services. I currently serve as liaison for the council on the Hiawatha Water Board and Hiawatha's representative on the Linn County Crime Stoppers Board. I was involved on the city's Comprehensive Plan 2036 prior to being on the council and I want to see those plans enacted. Last year was unprecedented with the COVID-19 pandemic and derecho. Even with this, Hiawatha stuck to our economic development plans. We have started building our new Turtle Creek Park, Village Center Amphitheater, and soon construction on the I-380/Tower Terrace interchange. We recently completed a new 1 million-gallon water storage tank in our northwest part of the city across from the new park. This will help serve as backup to our growing population in that part of town. We have many other projects in the planning and ready to dig phases. I want to be able to help see them through.

How do you rate the city’s current performance? What areas are going well, and what could be improved?

It would be hard pressed for any city to rate their performance a perfect 100%. We are close and would rate us at 95%. One thing I learned is that it takes time for things to happen. Just because the council approves a resolution doesn't mean action takes place the next day. Also, the time it takes for city staff to jump through all the hoops, dot the “i’s" and cross the “t’s” for many of the federal and state forms for grants, etc., is unbelievable. We have a fantastic staff in City Hall, from the city manager, finance director, city clerk, department heads all the way down to the newly employed. The teamwork is fantastic. They all work together seamlessly. Examples are: City Manager, Kim Downs has been recognized by HER Magazine and other entities. Work on getting approval for the I-380/Tower Terrace Road interchange has been going for years. With the city's staff working relentlessly the past couple of years, the Iowa Department of Transportation has approved funding for construction and should start later this year. This effort involved Hiawatha, Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Robins, and Marion. Our staff started the ball rolling and was instrumental in getting this done. They worked with our state legislature and senate representatives and other government officials. Our Village Center is beginning to take shape with the completion of the amphitheater in a few weeks and our new Turtle Creek Park in phase II. Cutting red tape would be beneficial.

What are the three largest issues facing the community and what will you do to address them?

We had a housing study a couple of years ago and that showed what we already knew. We need more lower to moderate income housing. Our population doubles during the daytime. That means we have many people commute to Hiawatha to work. We need housing for those young professionals and young families that cannot afford $400,000 homes. That study showed we need about 200 homes. Earlier this year we had a developer who wants to build on approximately 42 acres of currently zoned agriculture land. He was approved by our planning and zoning committee and it came before the council. The council was unanimous in approving the rezoning to R-5, which is moderate density housing. He is planning on building over 100 homes and 80 townhomes, all in the low to moderate income range. This fits our Comprehensive Plan 2036 perfectly.

Another issue is lack of a hotel in Hiawatha. We did a hotel study a few years ago and that revealed a need for a hotel. We had quite a bit of interest and a couple of hotel chains were very interested in building. Then came the pandemic and then derecho. Both affecting cost of building. So those plans are on hold. Hopefully, when pricing for building supplies comes down, their interest will go back up as the city would greatly benefit from a hotel, especially with the new I-380 interchange being built.

Restaurants and small shops are needed. City has a couple of developments that will be starting soon. Both will have retail/restaurant space on the ground floor.

If you were forced to cut the city’s budget, how would you approach these reductions? What areas would you look to for savings and why?

Fortunately, Hiawatha is in very good financial shape. We have been able to lower the city tax levy three out of the last four years. To answer your question, I would resist cutting staff and services, especially fire and police. The reductions would come from infrastructure spending where possible. We do a lot of infrastructure work with local-option sales tax dollars. This is on the ballot again this year and hopefully it passes again. If not, we would look for other funding sources such as grants from the state or federal government. Last resort would be from loans, although interest rates are very low at the present time. Other cuts could come from delaying upgrades at our parks and some equipment upgrades. We do our best to make equipment last through excellent maintenance programs which reduces costs of repairs or replacement. When we do replace equipment, we always put the used equipment on the market or trade it in to lower the costs of new.

What new policies might you propose for the city to enact? Why do you think they are necessary?

I would propose that we say the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the council meetings. Congressional sessions open with the recital of the pledge as do many other government meetings at local levels, and meetings held by many private organizations. Being a veteran and raised in public schools where we recited the Pledge of Allegiance every day, made me proud to be an American. This is a form of patriotism and I stand behind it. The Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the Pledge of Allegiance was not promoting religion by the words “under God.” In all but a handful of states, the pledge is allowed in public schools. I feel as though it should be done before every city's council meeting.

Are there quality of life improvements that could be made in the community? What are they and how would you fund them?

Intelligent syncing of traffic lights to help the daily traffic commute. Hiawatha already does this in a few intersections. But it should be done in all areas of heavy traffic and intersections. LOST funds.

Addition of more bike trails throughout the city. Hiawatha has the Cedar Valley Nature bike trail from Waterloo thru Hiawatha to the south thru Ely. Hiawatha has a lot of branches of the bike trail and will have another with the completion of the Tower Terrace/I-380 interchange. We are adding a new 17-acre Turtle Creek Park in our developing northwest part of the city. We added an ice arena in one of our parks last year and it was a huge success. Upgrades in new park equipment is being made in all of our existing parks. Replanting many of the trees we lost during derecho was made in partnership with Trees Forever. As our city grows, so does the need to keep our citizens safe. Maintaining a fire and police department with exceptional personnel and equipment ensures the safety of our citizens and visitors. Thus, making our city safer to live in. We also need safe, clean water, sewer, good infrastructure and other utilities available. All of these are requirements for quality of life. Many of these can be funded through LOST funds, federal grants and property taxes. With this in mind, Hiawatha is a great place to live, work and play.